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A research team at the Institute of Parasitology and Biomedicine of the Spanish National Research
Council (CSIC), in Grenade, has successfully developed in mice a cellular therapy for two major
autoimmune diseases: rheumatoid arthritis and multiple sclerosis. The scientists succeeded, in both
experimental models, in making the symptoms disappear and inducing a reversion of the degenerative
process. The results of the research were published this week in the digital edition of the Proceedings
of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

Autoimmune diseases occur when the immune system that normally protects the body from disease and
infection attacks itself. Autoimmune diseases can affect many parts of the organism, like the nerves or
the muscles, and cause significant and chronic morbidity and disability.

The therapy uses a certain type of cells (dendritic cells), which when injected in animals affected by
these disorders, generate T regulating (Tr) cells, responsible for the maintenance of immune tolerance.
CSIC scientist and lead of the research team, Mario Delgado, explains: 'the analysis of the cellular
mechanisms has unveiled that these dendritic cells induce new Tr cells in the treated animals, and that
these cells specifically neutralise the immune cells that attack components of the joint, in the case of
rheumatoid arthritis, or the myelin covering the nerves, in the case of multiple sclerosis'.

The therapy was also effective with Tr cells generated in vitro. In both cases, the response was induced
by using a known immunosuppressive neuropeptide, the vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP), a protein that
is produced by lymphoid as well as neural cells, that the scientists know acts like a powerful
anti-inflammatory agent. The research team lead by Dr Delgado has studied the use of the VIP on a
multiple sclerosis model for ten years.

The therapeutic process would start by extracting blood or marrow cells from the patient suffering the
autoimmune disorder. These cells would be treated with VIP so that they turn into dendritic cells.
Finally, these cells could be injected in the patient so that they induce new Tr cells and the
immunological tolerance is recovered. An alternative therapy could be based on using these regulating
dendritic cells in vitro to generate the Tr cells that could be then injected into the patient.

Dr Delgado, explains that 'the results with animals are very promising', although, he is cautious about
its eventual use in humans, warning that this would be a 'customized personal cellular therapy implying
high costs'. Its use could be justified though as some degenerative disorders do not have any
alternative effective treatment. Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is a chronic and severe neurological disease,
largely diffused all over the world. MS preferentially affects young adults and has high social costs,
representing a real emergence at both clinical and social levels.